Why is my Toshiba external hard drive not being recognized by my new Mac?

i've the same problem and i fond the solution..if you use segate goflex free agent usb 3.0 cable having 4 feet length you can fix the problem. actually the problem is that model of toshiba hdd wont suport mac.

and blue light for usb 3.0 and white light for usb 2.0

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Seagate-Free-Agent-USB3-0-Cable-USB-A-to-Micro-B-For-Ext ernal-HDD-4-Ft-Long-/221270253227?pt=US_USB_Cables_Hubs_Adapters&hash=item3384bc 1eab

To add another wrinkle to this thread, when I directly connect my Toshiba external HD to my new MacBook Air, I get the blue light of death, but when I plug it into my Logitech laptop stand with USB ports which is then connected to my MBA, I get the glorious white light of life and can access the files therein. Explanation?

I'm having the exact same problem... I have my Toshiba 1TB Hard Drive which I formatted to FAT32 so I was able to watch films on my PS3 off of it and recently got a MacBook Pro 13" i7 8GB RAM 750GB HDD, which is unable to read it (and I'm experiencing the same White Light when used with a PC and PS3 - which is when it works, and Blue Light when it is plugged into my MacBook and unable to open).

I've tried to follow as many instructions as possible that I've found on the internet but nothing seems to work - it won't even appear in Disk Utility, I don't know what to do. All I need to know is whether this a problem that can be fixed or not - otherwise I'll just get a new Hard Drive.

It sounds like it is not getting enough power from the USB port of the Mac? Does the drive ship with a second USB cable (with a tip on one end for a power port on the drive), or does it have a power supply of its own as backup?

Not much you can do if it doesn't have additional power options on its own. You could buy a powered USB hub, but I'd recommend going to a place you can try it before buying (since your stuff is portable 😉 ), or at least buy from a place with a decent return policy in case it doesn't resolve your issue.

Well clearly this isn't the problem since it would not matter whether or not a power supply is needed (which it isn't) since it not only worked with my previous Windows-run laptop but also off of my PS3 as I've mentioned (which you'd expect would have less power to devoted to its USB ports). Thanks for your input, but I'm starting to think that this is a manafacturer-based default to do with Windows-exclusive formatting.

I found the problem, turns out it is to do with the power supply, but something to do with Apple restricting power sent to the USB ports. I apologise for disregarding this before, but I still haven't managed to solve the problem as the only way Toshiba say it can be solved is by getting an entirely new Hard Drive or constantly connecting it through a USB Hub, neither of which I feel like doing...

Anyway, here's the link to the article, I hope it explains things for you as well;

http://www.phonenews.com/toshiba-completes-investigation-offers-mac-owners-canvi o-drive-replacements-20062/

There was such a thing as a USB "Y" cable (two USB on one end, and one on the other) that folks used to have to use with such drives. I don't know what the cost is, nor whether it would help in this case, but...

I understand the type of wire you're talking about. It might work, but if I'm going to be ordering any new wires, what I am looking at is a Female USB (to plug the HDD into) to a Thunderbolt adapter. Since this is my first Mac I'm unsure of what the Apple ports are goos for, would this work or not?

The blue light is actually a GOOD sign, it means you're plugged into a USB 3.0 port, while a white light means USB 2.0. So when the light is blue, your data flow is signifcantly faster between the computer and the external drive.

will any hub work for this? what should i be looking for in a hub?

i recently suffered the death of my macbook and just got a new macbook pro, only to find that i am having this problem with my external. i am significantly bummed and i really would pay for the hub if that would work.

You'll need a hub with 2 USB inputs since it will have to draw enough power from the 2 ports to power the hub.

It's a bit of a pain to have to use up 2 USB ports to power the hub, which is why I gave up on it and I'm just going to buy a cheaper hard drive with a lower capacity which will need less power to run.

If you look further up during this discussion you will see that it is not the fact that Toshiba don't support Mac - it's the power source. Unless you can provide a source or any explanation as to why this would work I don't think I'm going to pursue solving it this way...

Yup, tried a simple transfer using a file from the toshiba ext drive (that does not have an independent power source) copied onto a USB stick. Plugged USB stick into Macbook Pro - and the file copied smoothly into Macbook Pro.

Appears that problem with the "auto eject" likely due to insufficient power channelled to the ext drive.

I just ran into this problem two weeks, i ordered a new cable, tried a few other things, but no response. glad I came across this thread. I went to the article regarding the lack of power for these Toshiba external harddrives. I'm on amazon, just curious, i basically need to purchase on of these powered USB hubs to resolve all this?

http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Port-Speed-Power-Adapter/dp/B003Z4G3I6/ref=sr_1_2 ?ie=UTF8&qid=1392490745&sr=8-2&keywords=powered+usb+hub

guys..i have the same problem, and i found the solution.. i already told you. now am uploading a video proof of my solution. Actually problem was with the cable, I bought the seagate FreeAgent's cable ( 4 feet long)

this is the ebay link http://goo.gl/2blQJm (I'M JUST SHOWING YOU HOW THIS CABLE LOOKS LIKE, YOU CAN BUY THIS FROM ANYWHERE) and also this is the video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC7ppl1CmiM (in this video i accidently said 6 feet instead of 4 feet and also bad english) i hope this will help you all